Medicine Man

According to new research, you are not what you eat - but rather what your mother ate when she was having you!

The researchers say women who 'pig' out on junk food while pregnant may be condemning their offspring to a plethora of health problems later in life.

Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in London carried out a study involving rats and found that those that ate a diet rich in fat, sugar and salt while pregnant were more likely to give birth to offspring that liked to over-eat and loved junk food when compared to the offspring of rats given regular feed.

The scientists believe this could also apply to humans and suggest the second generation, whose mothers fed on junk or unhealthy processed foods, also had unusually high levels of cholesterol and increased risk of heart disease because of fats in the bloodstream.

These rats also had higher than average levels of glucose and insulin, making them susceptible to Type II diabetes.

The researchers say the mother's diet has an effect which lasts beyond adolescence in rats, and even when the offspring were weaned off the junk food, it affected how their bodies metabolised food and this suggests there is a long-term health impact.

The study analysed the rats beyond adolescence through to adulthood and found that these rats were still fatter than those whose mothers had eaten a healthier diet while pregnant and breastfeeding.

A particular concern was fat which was collecting around the major organs, which has been implicated in the development of type II diabetes and the rats with unhealthy mothers were more likely to have this, even if they were weaned off the junk food diet.

Interesting differences between the sexes were seen, with the male offspring of unhealthy mothers having higher levels of insulin and normal blood sugar, while the reverse was true of females, who also tended to be fatter.

The researchers say though the study was carried out in rats, the findings have implications for humans.

The same team have already shown that rats whose mothers were fed junk food during pregnancy and breastfeeding were more likely to crave similar snacks themselves but now it seems even when weaned off this diet themselves, the damage may already have been done.

Researcher Dr. Stephanie Bayol, says it appears that a mother's diet whilst pregnant and breastfeeding is very important for the long-term health of her child.

An outbreak of salmonella poisoning in the U.S. appears to have health authorities running around in ever decreasing circles.

The outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul which has been linked to tomatoes, has made 851 sick since April, and the strain has infected people in 36 states and the District of Columbia.

The infections have been linked to some raw red plum, red Roma, round red tomatoes, and products containing these raw tomatoes and so far the investigations have been unable to pin down the exact source of the contamination.

Investigations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with public health officials and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have traced the source of some of the outbreaks to restaurants using the tomatoes but how they came to be contaminated remains a mystery.

The clusters of illnesses identified in Texas and other states among persons who ate at restaurants have led the authorities to broaden the investigation to include food items that are commonly consumed with tomatoes.

The illnesses began between April 10 and June 20, 2008, including 173 who became ill on June 1 or later - it takes an average of 2-3 weeks before the illness can be confirmed.

Victims' ages range from 1 to 99 years and 49% are female; while no deaths have been officially attributed to the outbreak, at least 105 people have been hospitalized and it is suspected that many more were affected.

During the same period in 2007 only 3 persons in the U.S. were infected with this strain of Salmonella Saintpaul.

The FDA have been able to trace the tomatoes down the distribution chain to certain farms in Mexico and Florida and teams are conducting joint inspections with regulators in Mexico and Florida at the farms, distribution points and other critical points on the supply chain where the tomatoes may have become contaminated.

Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12-72 hours after infection - the illness usually lasts 4-7 days and most people recover without treatment.

However severe infections may occur and infants, elderly persons, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness where antibiotic treatment may be necessary.

When severe infection occurs, Salmonella may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other body sites, and can cause death.

Researchers have developed a new test which can quickly detect multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

The DNA-based test is a breakthrough in diagnosing MDR-TB and takes just two days to show results.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) the rapid molecular diagnostic tool will be available over the next four years in sixteen countries.

At present the standard tests take up to three months because only 2 percent of MDR-TB cases worldwide are diagnosed and treated appropriately.

The new test will mean diagnosis and treatment of MDR-TB can be expected to increase to 15 percent or more within four years.

The WHO says the test only costs $5 but another $15 then has to be spent on lab equipment and staff salaries, taking the total cost to $20 compared with up to $34 for older methods.

The new test can detect, directly from a patient's saliva, whether the tuberculosis bacteria can be treated with the two main antibiotics, isoniazid and rifampicin, making it easier to prescribe the drug to cure the disease and prevent its spread.

Previous tests required saliva samples to be incubated for as many as 60 days in order for microbacteria to grow and be tested against different antibiotic compounds.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis strains are particularly dangerous for HIV/AIDS sufferers and those with weak immune systems and errors in prescribing antibiotics can worsen drug resistance problems and lead to XDR-TB.

XDR-TB an untreatable form of the disease that has emerged in 49 countries including the United States, France, Russia, South Africa, Brazil and Australia.

Lesotho will be the first country to receive the lab equipment and training to use the new diagnostics under a programme supported by the WHO's partners UNITAID and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics.

Other countries due to receive support to use the new test in the next four years are: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Moldova, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The tests are currently only used in research settings, but soon 16 countries with a significant MDR-TB problem will become equipped to use the test.

The United Nation estimates 400,000 new cases of MDR-TB out of 9 million TB cases will occur every year.

The problem at present lies in the usually late detection of the infection when no response to standard TB treatment is likely and this delays the administration of second-line drugs - late detection makes MDR-TB harder to treat and the new test which is affordable, promises to be both feasible and effective in countries where TB is endemic.

Mario Raviglione, director of the WHO's Stop TB department, says the molecular test represents a big breakthrough in the fight against tuberculosis, a contagious respiratory ailment that kills 1.5 million people a year.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), has hit the headlines again with a Tasmanian coroner having to remind parents of the dangers of sharing their bed with their baby.

A new push to spread awareness of the risk factors has come about as a result of a court case in Tasmania where coroner Olivia McTaggart found four tragic infant deaths in Tasmania were as a result of an unsafe sleeping environment.

The investigation into four infant deaths in 2005 and 2006, found that three died from sudden infant death syndrome where the cause of death given was bronchopneumonia in circumstances of bed sharing or an unsafe sleeping environment and the fourth was killed when a parent accidentally rolled on to the baby and smothered it.

In her findings, Ms McTaggart referred to figures on overlaying, asphyxia or undetermined causes of infant deaths for 34 Tasmanian babies under the age of 12 months between May 1999 and July 2006.

Ms McTaggart says in 33 of these 34 infant deaths the circumstances involved an unsafe sleeping environment and the infants died while co-sleeping with one or both parents in an adult bed.

Nine deaths occurred after the infant had been put to sleep in their own cot, but on their stomach or side and Ms McTaggart has emphasised the importance of sleeping infants on their backs.

Additional risk factors in many of these deaths were the infant apparently being in an overheated environment, parental smoking and parents' consumption of alcohol and drugs.

Ms McTaggart has called for health officials to push for a prevention strategy to educate parents and carers about the safest ways for babies to sleep which has been welcomed by experts.

Peter Dargaville from the Council for Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity says while SIDS rates have fallen dramatically in the past 15 years, more needs to be done to spread the word and update guidelines.

Experts say even though information is already provided by maternity hospitals and newborn units to new parents about the need to avoid sleeping with their baby in bed with them, it is tragically clear that the message is not always getting through.

An estimated 600,000 foreign visitors and athletes, and as many as 2 million Chinese are expected to visit the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

According to researchers from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), those travelling to Beijing for the Olympics need to worry less about catching some exotic disease and more about dog bites.

An international team, led by Dr. Nina Marano examined surveillance data collected from travel and tropical-medicine clinics worldwide and found that only rarely have travellers to China become infected with a tropical or parasitic disease and there were no reported cases of malaria or dengue fever.

However in the past 10 years, dog bites, respiratory infections and diarrhea have been some of the biggest health threats to travellers to China.

The researchers say minor injuries such as muscle strains and joint sprains, have also been common among visitors to China and they suggest this might possibly be related to the low construction and safety standards in some public places.

According to the researchers travellers need to be cautious about dog bites as China has the second highest rate of human rabies cases in the world.

The CDC offers travellers advice on how to make their trip safer by taking precautions such as ensuring all vaccinations are up to date and getting some professional health travel advice before the trip.

The CDC says, travellers in China should "avoid all animals" and anyone bitten by an animal should wash the wound promptly and seek reliable medical care.

The CDC also warns travellers to wash their hands frequently to lessen the risk of contracting a respiratory or gastrointestinal infection and in order to avoid the risk of diarrheal illnesses, to eat only fully cooked, hot meals, and fruits and vegetables that they wash and peel themselves.

The CDC recommends wearing comfortable walking shoes and taking care when crossing streets and using public transport.

Dr. Marano says using common sense such as 'washing your hands, watching your step, and not petting stray dogs', while in Beijing can help keep you healthy.

The team used 1998-2007 data gathered by the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network and analyzed by GeoSentinel and CDC experts to assess illnesses among the 2,500 travellers to China.

The GeoSentinel Network was founded by the CDC and the International Society of Travel Medicine and is made up of 41 travel medicine clinics worldwide that provide traveller care and track travel-related health data.

The study is published in American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, online June 26, 2008.

For more CDC recommendations for Olympic travelers, athletes and health-care providers, please visit http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/contentOlympics2008.aspx.